WITH THE GROWING DEMAND FOR CLEAN LABEL AND NATURAL INGREDIENTS BY FOOD INDUSTRIES, THERE IS A CRITICAL NEED TO USE NATURAL COLORANTS AND DEVELOP METHODOLOGIES TO STABILIZE THEM AND INVESTIGATE THEIR IMPACT ON THE QUALITY OF FOOD AND BEVERAGES. COLOR IS ONE OF THE MOST CRITICAL COMPONENTS OF A FOOD PRODUCT THAT DIRECTLY AFFECTS THE CONSUMER'S PERCEPTION OF THE QUALITY, FRESHNESS, AND SAFETY OF THE FOOD. OVER THE PAST CENTURY, THE FOOD INDUSTRY HAS RELIED ON SYNTHETIC COLOR ADDITIVES TO PROVIDE BETTER COLOR STABILITY AND MORE EXCELLENT PRODUCT ATTRACTIVENESS. HOWEVER, THE GROWING HEALTH AWARENESS OF MODERN CONSUMERS HAS DRIVEN THE FOOD INDUSTRY TO UTILIZE NATURALLY DERIVED COLORANTS FOR PRODUCT COLORATION. FOR INSTANCE, THE CONCERN OVER THE SAFETY OF MANY SYNTHETIC COLORANTS, SUCH AS BRILLIANT BLUE, RED NO. 40, AND YELLOW NO. 5, HAS LED THE FOOD INDUSTRY TO INCREASINGLY REPLACE THEM WITH NATURAL COLORANTS, SUCH AS ANTHOCYANINS, BETALAINS, PHYCOCYANINS, CHLOROPHYLLINS, AND CAROTENOIDS, WHICH ARE EXTRACTED FROM FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SOURCES, SUCH AS BEETROOT, SAFFRON, BERRIES, AND ANNATTO. HOWEVER, THE LOW STABILITY OF SUCH NATURAL COLORANTS HAS LIMITED THEIR APPLICATION IN FOODS AS THEY TEND TO DEGRADE WHEN EXPOSED TO ELEVATED TEMPERATURE, PH CHANGES, AND LIGHT LEADING TO HUE CHANGES OR COMPLETE COLOR LOSS AND THE FORMATION OF DEGRADATION PRODUCTS.TO BROADLY USE NATURAL COLORANTS AND BROADEN THEIR APPLICATION IN THE FOOD INDUSTRY, A ROBUST AND EFFECTIVE STABILIZATION TECHNIQUE SHOULD BE IN PLACE TO NOT ONLY ENHANCE THE STABILITY, BUT ALSO CAN BE EASY EMPLOYED IN LARGE SCALE AS WELL AS BEING COMPATIBLE WITH THE FOOD SENSORY ATTRIBUTES (E.G., TASTE, SMELL, AND TEXTURE). TO THAT END, IN THIS PROJECT, WE PROPOSE TO EMPLOY HIGH-PRESSURE PROCESSING (HPP) AS AN EFFECTIVE TREATMENT TECHNIQUE TO ENHANCE NATURAL COLORANT STABILITY. FIRST, WE WILL COMPLEX THESE COLORANTS WITH BIOPOLYMERS (E.G., POLYSACCHARIDES AND PROTEINS) AND BIOMOLECULES AND IONS (E.G., SUCROSE AND COPPERIONS). THEN, WE WILL TREAT THE COMPLEXED COLORANTS USING HPP AT PRESSURES BETWEEN 400-600 MPA (MEGA PASCAL). FINALLY, WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE CHANGE OF THE INTER/INTRA-MOLECULAR STRUCTURE OF THE RESULTING COMPLEXED COLORANTS TO COMPREHENSIVELY UNDERSTAND THE COMBINATORY EFFECTS OF HPP AND COMPLEXATION ON THE STABILIZATION OF NATURAL HYDROPHILIC COLORANTS. THE STABILIZED NATURAL COLORANTS QUALIFY AS "CLEAN LABEL" INGREDIENTS, AND WE EXPECT THEY CAN BE USED IN FOODS AND BEVERAGES WHERE HIGHLY ACIDIC CONDITIONS, LOW SUGAR/HIGH WATER ENVIRONMENTS, HIGH-TEMPERATURE THERMAL PROCESSING, AND LONG SHELF LIFE ARE REQUIRED. THIS WORK IS DESIGNED ONLY TO USE NATURAL INGREDIENTS AND EMPLOY HPP TO STRENGTHEN THE COMPLEXATION AND ENHANCE THE STABILITY OF THE NATURAL COLORANTS. MOREOVER, THE PRODUCTS WILL BE THOROUGHLY CHARACTERIZED FOR BOTH MOLECULAR LEVEL ALTERATION AND PHYSIOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES ASSOCIATED WITH SENSORY APPEAL AND BIOAVAILABILITY OF NUTRIENTS IN VARIOUS FOODS.THUS, THE OUTCOME OF THE PRESENT WORK CAN BE CONSIDERED TO PROMOTE THE CLEAN LABEL THROUGH A VALUE-ADDED TREATMENT TO NATURAL COLORANTS AS WELL AS THE INACTIVATION OF MICROORGANISMS BY THE HPP TREATMENT. MOREOVER, THE OUTCOME WILL DELINEATE THE ROLE OF THE HPP PROCESS ON NATURAL COLORANTS' STABILITY. AS A RESULT, THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS OF GREAT INTEREST TO THE COMMUNITY OF FOOD SCIENCE AS WELL AS THE FOOD INDUSTRY AND YIELD SOME INSIGHTS TO PROMOTE HEALTHIER AND HIGHER QUALITY PRODUCTS FOR THE CUSTOMERS.